Winding and loading machine and method



3, 1955 J. HALAHAN ETAL WINDING AND LOADING MACHINE AND METHOD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 15, 1951 INVENTORS (few. w

ATTO R N EY Dec. 13, 1955 J.HALAHAN ETAL WINDING AND LOADING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed June 15, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS (JOHN HALHHHN THEODORE F7 AQUA/SON FOVD H- L VON ZRMC. ma /Maw ATTO R N EY United States Patent C WINDING AND LOADING MACHINE AND METHOD John Halahan, Jackson Heights, Theodore F. Aronson,

Valley Stream, and Floyd A. Lyon, Upper Brookville, N. Y.

Application June 15, 1951, Serial No. 231,796

8 Claims. (Cl. 226-2) Our invention particularly relates to an automatic winding and loading machine primarily for winding suture threads such as gut and for automatically loading the wound thread or gut into receptacles or bottles.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a winding and loading machine of the foregoing character which is characterized by the fact that an operator need merely introduce one end of a prescribed length of gut to the machine and thereafter the machine will automatically position and separate a card from a strip thereof, wind the gut about the card and insert it within a suitable receptacle, the receptacles being automatically positioned to receive successively wound cards.

Another object resides in providing a machine of the foregoing character in which the gut is wound upon a card within an enclosed area, to which the gut is initially fed by hand, and the card is automatically positioned therein and thereafter inserted within a receptacle with the gut wound thereabout.

Still another object resides in providing a machine of this character in which the operation thereof is so timed with respect to the operation of the winding mechanism that the free end of the gut, when the winding operation is substantially completed, cannot twist free from the card until after it is inserted within the receptacle or container.

Therefore, with the foregoing objects in view, our invention includes the novel elements and the combinations and relative arrangements thereof described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a schematically perspective view illustrating one form of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation view of a machine embodying the principles shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional elevation view taken in about the plane 33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken in about the plane 44 of Fig. 2.

One form of the present invention is shown schematically in Fig. 1 and it is believed that a description thereof will serve clearly to illustrate the general association of elements and the operation of our machine. However, it will be understood, as Fig. 2 indicates, that the operating mechanisms will be assembled in an entirely difierent relationship than is shown in Fig. l. In considering Fig. i, it will be understood that the frame of the machine serves to support and guide the various moveable elements shown in Fig. 1. A strip of cards upon which the gut is to be Wound is removed from a reel 1. The strip is formed of suitable material such as cardboard and the like provided with spaced rectangular openings 2 and the strip may be transversely scribed or perforated as indicated at 3 substantially midway between the ends of the rectangular openings. When separated along the perforations 3, each card is H-shaped to form a card of bobbin-like form. The gut is wound about the web portion thereof. The length of the web is determined by the length of the gut 2,726,798 Patented Dec. 13, 1955 which is being wound. The gut is manufactured in several, standard lengths.

The front of the machine is provided with suitable supports or guides through which the strip is fed to a position, herein termed the winding station, in front of a platen 4. The strip is moved longitudinally of the machine while platen 4 is slideable in a reciprocating manner transversely of the machine. When the end card of the strip is positioned as above described in what is termed its winding station, the platen 4 is moved forwardly after a cutting instrument indicated at 5 has separated the card from the strip along the perforations 3, the platen overbending the card as indicated at 6 and as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. This causes the web of the card to lie adjacent and beneath the flat platen 4 in a position to receive the gut during the winding operation.

The gut, which is manufactured in several standard lengths, is introduced by the operator through a funnel shaped guide 7, the gut passing through the narrow end of the guide where it will lie upon the platen 4 in a position to be engaged by a retainer 8 illustrated in Fig.1. The retainer 8 grips one end of the gut to prevent movement thereof during the initial phase of the winding operation. The guide 7 for the gut is mounted at one end of a lever 9 and the drive mechanism for lever 9 is such as to cause the guide 7 to trace a substantially rectangular path about the platen 4 and the Web portion of the card. In this manner successive convolutions of gut are disposed on the web of the card, the gut being fed through and guided by the rectangularly moving guide 7. This motion in the embodiment illustrated, is provided by lever 9 which is pivoted at one end to a first operating lever 10 which in turn is pivotally supported in the frame of the machine as indicated at 11. The other end of lever 10 is provided with a cam follower 12 which is driven from cam 13. As hereinafter described, cam 13 is driven in timed relation to the other driven elements of the machine from a suitable motor. A second driving lever 14 is eccentrically connected to the cam 13 and is also pivotally connected to lever 9 at a point intermediate the length thereof. It will be readily seen that the motion imparted to the guide 7 by means of cam 13 and the connection levers will be of a generally rectangular nature.

Movement of the strip of cards toward the winding station and movement of the wound card into a receptacle are effected by means of a rod 15 which is mounted on the face of the machine and guided to reciprocate longitudinally thereof. The supporting structure for rod 15 is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4.

Reciprocating motion is imparted to rod 15 by means of bifurcated lever 16 which is positioned to receive pin 17 within the bifurcation, pin 17 being secured to rod 15. Lever 16 is pivotally supported and driven by means of shaft 18, gears 19 and shaft 20 from lever 21 which operates as a cam follower in cooperation with cam 22 which likewise is driven from the motor which drives all of the elements of the machine. The drive for lever 16 effects an oscillation thereof in timed relation to the operation of the other machine elements. A pawl 23 is pivoted on rod 15 and resiliently urged into engagement with the face of the card strip by means of a spring (not illustrated). Hence, when the rod 15 is moved to the left as viewed in Fig. l the pawl 23 will engage within the rectangular opening 2 and move the strip forwardly and toward the right when the rod 15 is moved in that direction. The right hand end of rod 15 cooperates in removing the wound card from the winding station. Thereafter the cutting element 5 will be operated as hereinafter described to sever the end card from the strip. During this operation, of course, the strip of cards will remain stationary. Likewise the rod 15 may remain stationary while the winding mechanism applies the gut to the end card is partially inserted within the receptacle.

card. The rod 15 will thereafter engage the wound card and push it into the receptacle such as bottle 24 which is positioned by a bottle feeding mechanism of conven- V rod 15 is moved toward the left to engage the pawl with the next opening in the strip whereupon the cycle may be repeated. 7

As schematically shown in Fig. 1, the cutting element 'is driven by means of a cam 25, element26 and lever 27 to effect a cutting operation thereof. Any suitable type a of cutting element or cooperating cutting elements may be employed. The platen 4 is reciprocated by means of cam 28 and element 29 operating link 30. The gut gripping or retaining element 8 is shown by Way of example as being pivotally supported above the platen and is operated by cam 31, element 32and connecting link 33. A

cam 34 is illustrated as operating the receptacle-feeding mechanism through element 35 and connecting link 36.

All of the'operating mechanism above described are driven by means of a motor 37 which preferablydrives through a clutch mechanism so that a positive stop mechanism may be used to terminate a cycle of operation.

' cam.

winds the gut upon the card.

The overall operation of this machine is briefly as standard lengths of gut by substitutingan appropriate In Fig. 3 we have shown that portion of the machine which forms an enclosed area within which the gut may be wound. The frameof the machine indicated at 50 is provided with vertically spaced plates 51 and 52 between which the card 61 is positioned as indicated and overbent by means of the, platen 4. The guide 7 is mounted on the spaced plates 54 and 55 with its discharge end extending between the plates 51 and 52. The inner plate '55 under the influence of a compression spring 70 slides against the face of plates 51 and 52 and serves to define, together with plates 51 and 52 and the frame of the machine, an enclosed space56 within which the winding'operation can be performed. The discharge end of guide 7 will move between the platen and plate 51 and also between the platen and card and theplat'e 52 as it follows. When the operator inserts a strip of gut through the 'guide 7 he commences an operation of the machine by operating the bell crank 46. Thisclutches all of the driving and timing mechanisms with the motor Assuming that a severed card is positioned at the winding station,

initially the retainer 8 will engage the inserted end of the gut and hold it against the platen 4. The winding mechanism will thenoperate to provide. a given number of convolutions of gut about the platen and the card 53.

. The platen is then moved to disengage the card from the In Fig. 1', however, for the sake of clarity, the motor is shown as being separately coupled to drive the winding mechanism through clutch 38 and shaft 39 and through a speed reducer 40 and a gearing 41 to drive shaft 42 which is the common driving shaft for the balance of the timing drives.

However, as shown in Fig. 2 the motor 37 drives a V common shaft 43 whichoperates all 'of the timing and driving mechanisms, the gear 44 being freely supported on shaft 43 and functioning as the driving'member of the clutch. The other or driven member of the clutch (not illustrated) is secured to shaft 43 and a coil spring 'serves to spring load the clutch. One of the elements on the driven side of the clutch, such as cam 13, may be provided with a pin 45'which is adapted to engage one end of bell crank 46. Crank 46 is connected to rotate with a cam follower 47 and spring 48 serves to urge cam follower 47 into engagement with cam 49. When the cam follower engages the re-entraut portion of cam 49, bell crank 46 will then move into a position to intercept thereby terminating an operation of the machine' However, when bell crank 46 is manually operated in a clockwise direction, the pin 45 is released thereby permitting the machine to perform a cycle of operation, the pin 45 engaging the bell crank and terminating the operation upon the completion of the cycle. During this cycle the winding mechanism will perform a predetermined number of movements to trace a generally rectangular course, depending upon the length of the gut being wound.

same prescribed length.

In the event it is desired to wind a number of strips of gut having a different standard length, it has been found convenient to remove the platen 4 and insert a platen having a different width; To vary the length of the windings the length of stroke of lever 9 must be varied in accordance with the length of the interchangeable platen. In addition or alternatively, we may use cards having web portions of appropriate lengths.

The platen 4 may be made to'have an adjustable width so that it is unnecessaryto remove it if the gut strip length is changed. Moreover, we may vary the number of cycles performed during the winding operation for various It 'will be understood that the strips of gut are all of the pin 45 and arrest rotation of cam 13 and drive shaft 43 p platen. As the end of the gut is approached, rod 15 is moved forwardly to engage the wound card, the card and winding mechanism moving substantially together toward the receptacle. After the wound card is inserted within the receptacle, the rod 15 moves toward the left, engaging the card strip by means of the pawl 23 and moving the end card into position to be wound. Prior to i the forward movement of the rod 15, the platen 4 will have been moved 'rearwardly so as to permit free movement of the strip to the winding station. The cutting element is then operated to sever the end card and the platen moves forwardly to engage the card and overbend the upper portion thereof. the receptacle-feeding mechanism is also operated to discharge the loaded receptacle and to move the next receptacle into loading position. The. machine will be stopped by the bell crank 46 when the cycle of operation has been completed and the machine will be in condition to repeat this cycle when the operator inserts a newrstrip of gut and'again operates the bell crank.

What is claimed is: 1

l. A suture winding and loading machine comprising means for feeding a strip' of H-shaped cards to a winding station, means for severing the end card'from the strip, means for overbending the severed card, means for winding a suture strip about said card, meansfor sliding the wound card into a receptacle, and means for driving all of said means in timed relation to each other.

2. A suture winding and loading machine comprising 7 means for feeding a strip of H-shaped cards to a winding station, means for severing the end card from the strip, means for overbending the severed card, means for holding one end of a suture strip'adjacent the .overbent card, means for winding the suture strip about said card, means for sliding the wound card into a receptacle, and means for driving all of said means in timed relation to each other.

3. A suture winding and loading machine comprising means for feeding a strip of H-shaped cmds to a winding station, means for severing'the end card from the strip, a reciprccatory platen for overbending the severed. card,

means engageable with said platen for holding one end 7 of a suture strip,means for winding the suture strip about said card and platen, means for moving said platen forwardly to overbend said card and for moving said platen rearwardly to disengage said card after said winding During these latter operations,

operation, means for sliding the wound card into a receptacle, and means for operating said platen and all of said means in timed relation to each other.

4. A suture winding and loading machine comprising means for feeding a strip of H-shaped cards to a winding station, means for severing the end card from the strip, means for overbending the severed card, means for holding one end of a suture strip adjacent the overbent card, means for winding the suture strip about said card, means for sliding the wound card into a receptacle, and means for driving all of said means in timed relation to each other, the driving means for effecting a sliding of the wound card into the receptacle and the driving means for said winding means being so timed that the winding means will move toward the receptacle as the card is slid toward and inserted therein.

5. A suture winding and loading machine comprising means for feeding a strip of H-shaped cards to a winding station, means for severing the end card from the strip, means for overbending the severed card, means for holding one end of a suture strip adjacent the overbent card, means for winding the suture strip about said card, means for sliding the wound card into a receptacle, means for driving all of said means in timed relation to each other, a motor for operating said driving means, a slip clutch connected between said driving means and the motor, and a stop mechanism for arresting said driving means upon completion of a winding and loading cycle.

6. A suture winding and loading machine comprising means for feeding a strip of H-shaped cards to a winding station, means for severing the end card from the strip, means for overbending the severed card, means for holding one end of a suture strip adjacent the overbent card, means for winding the suture strip about said card, means for sliding the wound card into a receptacle, cam-operated means for driving all of said means in timed relation, a motor for driving the cams, a slip clutch connected between said cams and the motor, and a cam-operated stop mechanism for arresting said cams upon the completion of a Winding and loading cycle.

7. The method of winding and loading sutures comprising the steps of feeding a strip of H-shaped cards to a winding station, severing the end card of said strip, bending said severed card along its longitudinal axis, Winding a suture about said card, sliding the wound card into a receptacle, andremoving said loaded receptacle.

8. The method of winding and loading sutures comprising the steps of feeding a strip of winding cards to a winding station, severing the terminal strip of said cards, feeding a suture to said severed card, clamping the end of said suture to said card, winding said suture about said card, and placing said wound card into a receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,638,074 Van Veen Aug. 9, 1927 1,771,869 Baldenhofcr July 29, 1930 2,311,736 Cleminson Feb. 23, 1943 2,417,574 Themark Mar. 18, 1947 

